


Trial by Fire

by Severina



Category: Live Free or Die Hard (2007)
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-26
Updated: 2013-05-26
Packaged: 2017-12-13 01:07:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/818159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severina/pseuds/Severina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To be honest, he hadn't really thought about Jack at all.  Jack, who will be in attendance today.  Jack, back from some super-secret spy mission in Russia that almost got his father <i>killed</i>.  </p><p>Yeah.  He might have issues with Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trial by Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Post _A Good Day to Die Hard_. Written for LJ's smallfandomfest for the prompt "There's no one else. So we're doing it."
> 
> * * *

The back fence is decked out with brightly coloured balloons; beyond the gate, Matt can see that the party is well underway. But John takes him by the elbow, steers him aside before he can make a beeline for the punchbowl.

"I know this is hard for you," John says. 

Matt forces his eyes away from the tempting lure of the cheese tray – he was working until dawn and only managed to get a few hours shut-eye before John woke him, and he may have forgotten to eat since, oh, a bowl of Cheetos yesterday. Around noon. It was a hearty lunch. "Huh?" he says.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about." 

He catches Jim waving at him out of the corner of his eye; lifts a hand in return before turning his attention back to John. "No really, I don't know what you're—"

"He's my kid, Matt," John says impatiently. "I'm just asking you to make an effort here."

Oh.

To be honest, he hadn't really thought about Jack at all. Jack, who will be in attendance today. Jack, back from some super-secret spy mission in Russia that almost got his father _killed_. 

Yeah. He might have issues with Jack.

It's not that he doesn't like the guy. Jack is a lot like John, actually. Except where John's bulk and barrel chest makes his mouth go dry and his heart beat faster, Jack's just makes him want to make cracks about how excessive steroid use causes impotence and worry aloud for any of Jack's future girlfriends. And while John always tempers his scowls with smirks, Jack just seems to be in a state of perma-glare. 

Okay, maybe he doesn't like Jack.

Matt realizes that John is still staring at him. And John really doesn't ask much of him. Maybe occasionally to turn his music down, but John thinks that Glenn Frey is the pinnacle of musical expression so he kind of has to pity the guy when that happens. 

Matt smiles nervously at the thought of what lies ahead. "Of course," he says. "I just haven't had the chance to get to know Jack very well. We'll hang out today. It'll be… awesome."

* * *

He tries. He really does. He _makes an effort_.

He sets his lawn chair next to Jack. He acts impressed by Jack's tales of undercover espionage. He laughs at Jack's stories. He ignores the way Jack glowers at him when he tells his own fire sale story – and okay, maybe he shouldn't have told the one where John snorted at him after he was so quick to deny that John was sexy, but that's the story with the flying car and the exploding helicopter and it's the best one in his arsenal. At least Lucy laughed. 

When John and Jim get up to check on the barbeque and Lucy and Holly have their heads bent together in some private chat, Jack gets up to wander into the house. Matt watches the screen door slide closed, follows Jack with his eyes until the guy disappears into the shadows. Maybe he's going about this all wrong. Maybe all that he and Jack need is some alone time. A chance to chat with no pressure. 

Matt takes a breath, releases the grip he has on the arms of the chair. Forces himself to get up and walk toward the door. He can do this.

He just never expected that it would be so messy.

* * *

"She okay?" Matt asks from the doorway.

Jack glances over his shoulder before he puts the whimpering baby down on the change table. "Needs to be changed," he says shortly.

Matt sidles a little closer, cocks his head at the squirming infant. He hasn't spent a lot of time around Rebecca, John's babysitting gigs notwithstanding, and he's almost surprised to see how much she looks like Lucy. Same complexion. Same hair – that is, if Lucy decided to hack off all of hers and donate it to Locks of Love. She doesn't look much like Jim at all. Maybe John has a point about Lucy having an affair with the mailman.

Truth be told, he's made it a point to stay far away from Lucy's daughter. He doesn't know a thing about babies, except that Rebecca tends to cry at inopportune moments and is really quite squirmy. And she's got this tendency to stare at him with those laser eyes that track everything – which may be a baby thing or may just be a McClane thing – and that makes him awkward and nervous and the last thing he wants is to be responsible for the kid being warped in her formative years.

From everything he's heard Jack doesn't have any more experience with kids than he does. So when Jack reaches for the tab at the side of Rebecca's diaper, Matt lunges forward to snag at Jack's wrist. "You sure about this?"

Jack gives him a withering glance that could strip paint from the walls, pulls his arm away. And John wonders why Matt doesn't want to spend time with his kid. "It's a fucking baby," Jack snaps. "What's the big deal?"

Matt shrugs, watches while Jack lifts the diaper away from the baby's bottom, and—

"OH GOD," Matt yelps.

Jack's head whips in his direction. "Keep your voice down, you want her to start crying again? It's just a little…" His voice trails off as he turns back to the baby. He quickly covers his mouth with the back of his hand, his voice muffled. "What in the name of Christ?"

Matt moves a little closer, stares in disgusted fascination at the mess. "Is that… normal?"

"You're asking me?"

"What, they didn't give you extensive lessons on changing babies in the CIA? No detailed classes on baby poop? You're the expert in everything else," Matt snips.

"Well if there _are_ any top-secret files on this in my organization, you'd be the one to ferret them out, wouldn't you? Goddamn hacker."

"You don't know shit about—" Matt stops when the squirming baby draws his attention, his eyes widening. "Ohhh, jesus," he moans, "it's all the way up her back!"

"That… can't be normal," Jack mutters.

"You know what?" Matt says frantically. "Let's find someone else. I'll go! I'll go get… Lucy. Or John!"

"There's no one else," Jack says firmly. "They're all busy. So we're doing it."

Jack takes a deep breath, and from the look on his face he regrets it immediately. Matt gives himself mental congratulations – at least has the good sense to breathe through his mouth. 

Rebecca, for her part, looks unimpressed with all the fuss. Matt stares down at the grinning baby, swipes a hand over the peach fuzz on her head before squaring his shoulders. He programmed in a rotating algorithm under pressure just to delay the bad guys. He faced down several gun-wielding maniacs. Okay, granted, he got his knee shot out in the process, but what's the worst that can happen here?

"Right," he says softly. He raises his eyes to meet Jack's gaze. "We can do this."

Jack nods. "I'll lift her up, and you start cleaning. Then we switch. On three?"

"Okay," Matt says. He closes his eyes briefly. "One—"

"Two," Jack says.

"WAIT!" Matt yells. "Get me the baby wipes."

* * *

"Everything okay here?" John asks.

Matt looks up from fastening the final button on Rebecca's overalls. He furrows his brow at John, leaning casually in the doorway. "Yeah," he says.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Jack asks. 

Jack straightens when Matt lifts Rebecca onto his shoulder, dangles a set of plastic keys in front of the baby. Rebecca makes a dive for the keys, and Matt sputters around a mouthful of baby fingers. But he still manages to watch John's gaze dart between him and Jack, his eyes narrowing.

"So," Jack says. He tosses the keys and Matt catches them expertly, tucks them into his shirt pocket where the baby immediately begins pawing for them, her face determined. He captures Rebecca's tiny fist in his, gives it a playful shake. 

"Gonna check on those steaks," Jack continues. "See you outside?"

"Yeah, be right out, dude," Matt says. "And we'll set a date for me to drop by and check out your system."

"After the gym on Friday," Jack suggests on his way out the door. 

"Sounds good," Matt answers. He glances up in time to see John's eyebrow shoot up as Jack sidles past him, shrugs and does his best to look innocent. "What?"

John pushes off from the door, saunters into the room and smoothes a finger down Rebecca's cheek. Matt notices for the first time that when he looks at the baby, his eyes go soft, his shoulders relax. It's the same way he looks at Lucy when things are good between them, the same way he looks at Matt himself. The same way he looks at Jack. His family. 

"Nothing," John finally answers. "You want me to take her?"

"Nah, I'm good," Matt says. He hefts the baby up further onto his shoulder, pats at her back absently. "I can't believe she's already a year old. Hey, you ever notice how much she watches everything? Those big brown eyes, just taking everything in, filing it all away. And the way her arms flail at the slightest provocation? It's wild, John. And she'll pout at the drop of a hat, no lie."

John snorts. "Reminds me of someone else I know."

If his arms weren't full of warm baby, John would definitely get a smack. Matt contents himself with leaning against him, turning his face up for a kiss. "You think," Matt says when they part and are heading back out to the party, "that I can do fifty pull-ups by the time I have to go to the gym on Friday?"

"You told Jack you can do fifty pull-ups?"

"…no."

"You're fucked, Matty," John says. He slaps a hand on Matt's shoulder. "But if I know my kid, he'll whip you into shape real fast."

Matt groans. But somehow, if it means getting to know Jack better, Matt finds he doesn't mind that thought one bit.


End file.
